Former top Vatican official strikes back at Pope
“A top Vatican cardinal recently dismissed by Pope Francis struck back this week, calling the Pope’s treatment of him and other Vatican employees ‘unacceptable.’ ‘I cannot accept this way of doing things,’ Cardinal Gerhard Muller said(link is external) in an interview with German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse. ‘As a bishop, [the Pope] cannot treat people in this way.’ Francis informed Muller, the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican’s doctrinal office, that he would not be renewing his contract in a brief meeting on June 30, just two days before the contract expired.” By Delia Gallagher, CNN

First Vatican trial under laws against financial crime to open Tuesday
“Tuesday (Jul. 18) sees the start of the Vatican trial of two former officials of a papal hospital in Rome charged with illicitly using funds(link is external) to renovate the Vatican apartment of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in a way that benefited a fellow Italian businessman. Bertone himself was not an object of the Vatican investigation and does not face any charges in the trial, which marks the first prosecution under new Vatican laws on financial crime.” By Ines San Martin, Cruxnow.com
— Vatican court refuses to stop embezzlement case(link is external), By Associated Press in The Sacramento Bee

Read the following note to readers for background on National Catholic Reporter’srecent series of stories on the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal. The stories are listed below this introduction:

Note to readers about content this week
“On the NCR website this week (Jul. 17), we will run a series of stories that will challenge our readers to look at the scandal of sexual abuse of minors(link is external) by clergy from several different viewpoints: from the perspective of a victim/survivor, from the perspective of a convicted offender, from the perspective of a family member of a victim, and from the perspective of professional advocates and watchdogs. The stories will make some people uncomfortable and others angry. It will be difficult reading, but my hope — my belief — is that it will make us confront a profound question about clergy sex abuse and the Catholic Church, namely, how do we as church, as a community of believers, bring healing to our wounded body? What cooperative acts of justice and mercy must we take as a community of believers to move forward in our journey of faith? Questions will be raised, but not all will be answered.” By Dennis Coday, National Catholic Reporter

Sister finds that faith sustains when institutions fail
“It’s a gorgeous spring day, and the sunshine is pouring into the bedroom of Dominican Sr. Sally Butler’s apartment in the Fort Greene neighborhood, brightening the already cheery lavender-painted walls … Butler, 86, can’t get out of bed because of spinal stenosis and arthritis. And even if she could, for the past 24 years, she says, she has had to find her connection to Christ outside the church. Though she has been in religious life for nearly 70 years, Butler is unable to believe in the institutional church anymore(link is external). But her faith in God, she says, has never been stronger.” By Dan Stockman, Global Sisters Report, National Catholic Reporter

‘Uncommon conversation’ on sex abuse falls silent
“An ‘uncommon conversation’ is on hold in Minnesota. After meeting a decade ago at a sex abuse treatment conference, Gil Gustafson and Susan Pavlak each came to see in their pasts a possible way forward(link is external) for their home archdiocese, St. Paul-Minneapolis, as it struggled to deal with the scandal of clergy sexual abuse. Pavlak, now 62, was sexually abused as a child by a teacher who was a former nun at a Catholic school. Gustafson, now 66, pleaded guilty in 1983 to sexually abusing a teenage boy, and has since admitted to abuse of three other male minors.” By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter

‘All of us together’: Sex abuse survivor seeks healing within the church
“In this interview, Susan Pavlak, a lifelong resident of St. Paul, Minnesota, describes being sexually abused by her high school religion teacher(link is external), a former nun, beginning in 1970. The abuse, according to Pavlak, happened on several occasions over four years. The alleged perpetrator, whom Pavlak has chosen not to identify by name in this interview, has never been charged in a criminal court; and Pavlak has never sought damages from any party in a civil court.” By Luke Hansen, National Catholic Reporter

Convicted soul: a priest-perpetrator of child sexual abuse shares his story
“Gilbert Gustafson was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1977, served as an associate priest at St. Mary of the Lake Parish in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, until 1982, pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a minor(link is external) in 1983, and served four and a half months in jail and 10 years’ probation. Gustafson has admitted to abusing four boys between 1978 and 1982. He was not criminally charged in the other cases.” By Luke Hansen, National Catholic Reporter

The clergy’s task is unfinished in confronting sex abuse
“The story of Marie Collins, an Irish victim of clergy sex abuse and a witness of unimpeachable integrity(link is external), is a dual tale of how far the church has come in acknowledging and handling the scandal and of how wholly and demonstrably incapable the Catholic clerical culture is of dealing with its own sin. Collins was one of two survivors of clergy sex abuse who were appointed in 2014 to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an agency created by Pope Francis. She resigned the commission in March … Three years after her appointment, she wrote: ‘I have come to the point where I can no longer be sustained by hope. As a survivor, I have watched events unfold with dismay.’” By Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter

POPE FRANCIS

Can anything burst Pope’s media bubble? Probably not
“Next March will mark the five-year anniversary of Francis’s papacy, and one interesting question is whether the broad media love affair with Francis will still be in place(link is external) when that moment comes. John Allen says “probably yes,” because by now the positive narrative surrounding Francis has become so entrenched as to be basically impervious to reconsideration.” By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com

Vatican article says ‘main obstacle’ for Pope Francis is bishops, priests
“Shortly after one Vatican article stirred debate by asserting there’s an ‘ecumenism of hate’ in the U.S. between conservative Evangelicals and Catholics, another over the weekend asserted that the ‘main obstacle’ to implementing Pope Francis’s vision for the Church is ‘closure, if not hostility’ from ‘a good part of the clergy(link is external), at levels both high and low.’” By Crux Staff, Cruxnow.com

Pope Francis’ next act
“These four very different departures (Cardinal George Pell, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, Cardinal Joachim Meisner and Cardinal Angelo Scola) have a combined effect: They weaken resistance to Francis in the highest reaches of the hierarchy(link is external). And they raise the question facing the remainder of his pontificate: With high-level opposition thinned out and the Benedict/John Paul II vision in eclipse, how far does the pope intend to push?” By Ross Douthat, The New York Times

CARDINALS

Headed to court, Cardinal Pell is no stranger to controversy
“Cardinal George Pell, who this week will become the highest ranked church official ever to face sex abuse charges in court(link is external), may be the most polarizing religious leader in Australia’s brief history. The former Archbishop of Sydney will appear in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on July 26 to answer yet-unspecified charges of historical sexual abuse involving multiple complainants, which he resolutely denies. The complaints apparently long predate his present Vatican role as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, often but misleadingly referred to as number three in the Vatican hierarchy behind the pope and secretary of state. It is a staggering fall from grace for the combative cardinal.” By Barney Zwartz, National Catholic Reporter

Why Pope Francis’ appointment of the new archbishop of Milan is a big deal
“The Vatican announced on July 7 that Pope Francis had appointed Auxiliary Bishop Mario Delpini as the next archbishop of Milan(link is external), succeeding the retiring Cardinal Angelo Scola. Bishop Delpini, a native of the archdiocese, lives in a very modest home mostly for retired priests about a mile northeast of the cathedral, with its old and venerable archbishop’s palace across the piazza. He is in close contact with the clergy of the archdiocese, where he has served most of his priestly life.” By Edward W. Schmidt, America: The Jesuit Review

WOMEN IN THE CHURCH

Austria: more and more girls as altar servers
“Altar service is still attractive for children and teenagers(link is external): it is confirmed by the figures presented by Simon Mödl, in charge of the service for the ‘Young Church’ from the archdiocese of Vienna. With respect to the decrease in other sectors, said Mödl to the agency of the Austrian Catholic Church Kathpress, ‘here, figures are incredibly stable, and the flow of boys and girls is constant.’ Following a research, from 2014, almost 55% of the over 45 thousand Austrian altar servers – including 10 thousand in the archdiocese of Vienna only – have been female.” By SIR: Servizio Informazione Religiosa, agensir.it

VATICAN

New website for Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family, Life
“The Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has a new way to interact with the world: a new website(link is external) launched this week. The new site offers news about the Dicastery’s activities, as well as social updates and videos. Explaining its mission, the Dicastery says, ‘The new website, in addition to telling about the Dicastery’s activities, wants to become a familiar place for lay people and families, where everyone will feel at ease and have [a] chance to be heard.’” By Vatican Radio

CLERICALISM

That sneaky clericalism
“Jesus warned about it. Luther revolted against it. Pope Francis is trying to deal with it. Yet clericalism – a priest or clergyman placing himself above the laity(link is external) – is still alive. We all know its effects are negative: abuse of power, passivity of the laity (“pray, pay, and obey”) and “project[ing] an image of power and privilege” of the Church in the context of poverty. Conceretely, it’s why many have left the Church in disillusionment. So why does clericalism continue?” By Henoch Derbew, The Jesuit Post

Catholic parishes to pay higher fees
“To help Guam’s Catholic Church correct past financial mismanagement, pay debts and properly fund chancery operations, village parishes will see an average of 186-percent increases in assessment fees(link is external). This means up to a 1,146-percent hike for the Maina parish, for example, which used to pay only $107.82, church data shows. The Dededo parish, the biggest, will be assessed $10,763.45 instead of the $5,481.26 imposed six years ago, or an increase of 96 percent.” By Haidee Eugenio, Pacific Daily News

Questions multiply by the day in latest Vatican money scandal
“Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former Secretary of State under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, has denied rumors of involvement in a scheme(link is external) to overpay for remodeling on his Vatican apartment in order to benefit an Italian businessman and longtime friend. Meanwhile, questions remain about how the businessman was able to bill two different Vatican departments almost $1 million for the same work, which was never even finished.” By Crux Staff, Cruxnow.com

Priest admitted in 2007 to using parish checks for home construction
“A decade before he was charged with embezzlement(link is external), Rev. Jonathan Wehrle admitted to writing checks from St. Martha Parish to pay for the construction of his $1.48 million home. In November 2007, Wehrle told lawyer Michael Ryan that at times he transferred money from his personal accounts to the church’s account, then issued checks from the church’s account for personal use.” By Beth LeBlanc, Lansing State Journal

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS REFORM

Legislator wants tougher hidden predator act to pursue sex offenders
“When his bill extending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims was signed into law in 2015, State Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine) knew it didn’t go far enough(link is external). The lawsuits that have been filed since the Hidden Predator Act took effect bear him out. While the law allows victims to go after the individuals they say abused them, the businesses and nonprofits that allegedly enabled or covered up predatory behavior have so far avoided any potential financial liability.” By Christian Boone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Statute of limitations on child abuse cases should be longer
“Rarely does a month go by without us having to publish a police or court report involving an adult who has victimized a child sexually(link is external). It was only a few short weeks ago we reported charges against a Cassadaga man accused of alleged sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11. There are enough such cases for Patrick Swanson, county district attorney, to suggest adding money to his budget next year to assign a prosecutor solely to sexual crimes against children.” By The Post-Journal

CLERGY CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

‘The Keepers’: here’s what has happened since the Netflix series debuted
“‘The Keepers’ debuted two months ago, and since then, filmmaker Ryan White has seen positive developments in the case(link is external): More victims have spoken out and police are investigating further into Father Joseph Maskell’s past life.” By Beatrice Verhoeven, SFGate.com

How the Catholic Church’s hierarchy makes it difficult to punish sexual abusers
“…While reforms in the Catholic Church in the United States have made it mandatory for priests to report instances of sexual abuse, there still remains much work to be done(link is external) in the Catholic Church worldwide. From my perspective as a Catholic scholar of religion, one of the challenges in tackling this issue is the hierarchy of the church itself. It is still difficult to hold high-ranking clerics responsible, either for the misdeeds of their subordinates or for the crimes that they may have committed themselves …” By Mathew Schmalz, SFGate.com

ILLINOIS

Catholic order settles abuse case years later
“The Claretians Roman Catholic order has settled a lawsuit from a man sexually abused as a 6-year-old(link is external) by a teenager who later became a prominent priest in Chicago, confirming in the settlement obtained by The Associated Press that the longtime cleric recently left the priesthood. But Bruce Wellems, 60, still works as executive director of a nonprofit that offers youth mentoring, alternative schooling and other programs for children, according to a staff list at the Peace and Education Coalition. Its head office is also located in the same southwest side Chicago church where he served as priest for two decades.” By Michael Tarm, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

KANSAS

Father claims Overland Park priest ‘tickled,’ touched young daughter
“Hours after the Archdiocese of KCK announced the suspension of priest Scott Kallal on Tuesday (Jul. 18), a man who claims his daughter was sexually assaulted(link is external) by Kallal came forward with new allegations. The Archdiocese announced in a statement Monday (Jul. 17) afternoon that Kallal was suspended from his position at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Overland Park after two sources came forward with allegations of wrongdoing.” By KSHB-TV

MASSACHUSETTS

Paul Shanley, priest at center of clergy sex abuse scandal, to be released
“One of the most notorious figures in the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal(link is external) has completed his prison sentence on child rape charges and will be released this week (Jul. 26) after two experts hired by prosecutors found he does not meet the legal criteria to be held as a sexually dangerous person. Paul Shanley was known in the 1960s and ’70s for being a hip street priest who reached out to troubled youths.” By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, on WBUR.org

Man sues Boston Archdiocese citing sex abuse at orphanage
“A New York man is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston for sexual abuse he says he suffered decades ago(link is external) at a church-affiliated home for orphaned and foster children. Andre Jones, who’s 51, said Monday (Jul. 17) that he was abused in the 1970s by the late Brother Edward Anthony Holmes, a supervisor and counselor at the now-shuttered Nazareth Child Care Center.” By Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

PENNSYLVANIA

Disgraced Catholic priest loses appeal of ‘sex tourism’ convictions for molesting orphans
“A former Catholic priest from Somerset County who was convicted of engaging in ‘sexual tourism(link is external)’ to molest poor orphans in Honduras has lost an appeal of his nearly 17-year prison sentence. That defeat came this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected Joseph D. Maurizio Jr.’s claims that he didn’t receive a fair trial.” By Matt Miller, PennLive.com

Advocacy group demands Greensburg Diocese release ‘secret files’
“An advocacy group believes that Greensburg Bishop Edward Malesic may be withholding evidence, hidden in secret files(link is external) known as Canon 489 files, pertaining to the arrest of the Rev. John T. Sweeney. The group thinks the files could contain evidence of the sexual abuse of children. Diocesan law describes the files as archives meant to be ‘kept secret, locked, and protected.’ On Tuesday (Jul. 25), the Diocese said it has turned over every file on Sweeney, including the Canon 489 files, to the attorney general.” By WTAE-TV Pittsburgh

Court upholds priest’s sex-abuse conviction involving orphans in Honduras
“A federal appeals court on Monday (Jul. 24) upheld the conviction of a former Somerset County priest who was found guilty in 2015 of traveling to Honduras to sexually abuse orphans(link is external) and sentenced last year to more than 16 years in federal prison. The Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., who at the time of his September 2014 arrest was the pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish in Central City, had asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to overturn his conviction.” By Mark Pesto, Tribune-Democrat

Retired Westmorland County priest accused of forcing boy to perform oral sex
“A now-retired Roman Catholic priest is accused of forcing a 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy to perform oral sex on him after counseling the 4th-grader about misbehaving on a school bus. The state attorney general’s office said Monday (Jul. 24) that the Rev. John Thomas Sweeney committed felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse(link is external) against the boy at St. Margaret Mary Elementary School in Lower Burrell.” By Associated Press on WJACTV.com

Western Pennsylvania Catholics, victims react to latest abuse arrest
“Area Catholics and ex-Catholics who testified before a state grand jury that met in 2014 to investigate Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse(link is external) reacted Monday (Jul. 24) to the news of another abuse allegation with a mixture of relief and anger. ‘Being one of those people who came forward, this is a very proud day for me,’ said Shaun Dougherty, 47, formerly of Johnstown. ‘If this arrest came as a result of anything I testified to … that’s why I came forward.’” By Stephen Huba, TribLive.com

AUSTRALIA

Priest John Denham to face fresh Taree child sex allegations
“Convicted child sex offender Catholic priest John Denham has been charged with fresh offenses after a man alleged he was sexually abused(link is external) at Taree in the late 1970s by Denham, senior Maitland-Newcastle priest Barry Tunks and two other men. Manning/Great Lakes Local Area Command detectives charged Denham, 76, with three sexual assault offences more than two months after charging former Vicar General Barry Tunks, 76, in March with three indecent assault offences against the same boy in Catholic Church facilities at Taree.” By Joanne McCarthy, Newcastle Herald

George Pell braces for first court appearance amid accusations of Salem which hunt and slaughter of lambs
“People who have accused Cardinal George Pell of molesting them could be ‘lambs to the slaughter’ when legal proceedings begin(link is external), a Victorian lawyer representing sex abuse survivors fears. Australia’s most senior cleric will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court next week on multiple historical sex charges, which one of Pell’s close friends has likened to a Salem witch hunt.” By Mark Saunokonoko, 9news.com.au

‘It killed part of me,’ clergy abuse victim says
“An Ottawa man has become the latest victim to sue the Archdiocese of Ottawa for sexual abuse that he allegedly suffered(link is external) at the hands of the city’s most notorious Catholic priest, Rev. Dale Crampton. Robert Sullivan has filed a $2-million damages claim for abuse that he says began when he was just 10 years old.” By Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen

GUAM

Former priest, Boy Scout leader, accused in new abuse suits
“A man on Tuesday (Jul. 18) filed a lawsuit, alleging that now-deceased Boy Scouts of America scout leader Edward Pereira raped and sexually abused him(link is external) in the early 1970s. It is the first of 93 sexual abuse lawsuits that does not name the Archdiocese of Agana as a defendant. Another lawsuit filed Tuesday (Jul. 18), by a man now living in California, alleges that now-deceased priest Ray Techaira sexually abused him when he was a Catholic school student in the mid-1980s.” By Haidee Eugenio, Pacific Daily News

Five more sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Church
“Nearly 100 sex abuse lawsuits(link is external) have been filed against the Church. Late Thursday afternoon (Jul. 14), five more cases were filed in the District Court of Guam. 53-year-old R.W.J., 50-year-old P.P.R., and 58-year-old W.E.T. all allege they were molested by Father Louis Brouillard. P.P.R. goes into detail saying that aside from being exposed to the priest naked as well as naked swims it the river, the priest would molest him in a room behind the Church altar. The priest would tell the young boy that it was what God wanted him to do and that it was a sin if he didn’t do as Brouillard asked.” By Krystal Paco, KUAM-TV

Victim alleges sex abuse before grandma’s funeral
“Attorney David Lujan filed five more clergy sex abuse lawsuits(link is external) against the Archdiocese of Agana, Boy Scouts of America and two former Guam priests in federal court yesterday (Jul. 12) afternoon. One of the cases alleges defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda abused a boy after officiating the funeral Mass for the boy’s deceased grandmother, and while in a car ride to the burial site. The latest cases also added more cases against former Guam priest Louis Brouillard.” By Neil Pang, The Guam Daily Post

Guam’s Catholic Church could sell 41 properties to settle abuse cases
“The Guam Catholic church’s financial arm on Thursday (Jul. 13) released a list of 41 non-essential properties that could be sold to help settle more than 90 Guam clergy sexual abuse cases(link is external). The most valuable of the assets are the former Accion Hotel, which now houses the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, the chancery complex where the archbishop lives, and the former Thomas Aquinas High School in Ordot, the Archdiocesan Finance Council said.” By Haidee Eugenio, Pacific Daily News

INDIA

Kerala: Catholic priest held for sodomizing two boys
“A Kerala priest accused of sodomizing minor boys(link is external) was arrested by the police on Tuesday (Jul. 17). The suspect Fr. Saji Joseph, 45, was director of St. Vincent’s Balabhavan at Meenangadi in Waynad district. He was accused of sodomizing minor boys staying in the hostel since 2016. The incident came to light after a victim confided the ordeals to his mother when he went home for vacation recently.” By Gladwin Emmanuel, Mumbai Times

IRELAND & NORTHERN IRELAND

Irish priest who exposed pedophile to sue Florida diocese for defamation
“An Irish priest has been given permission by a US court to sue the West Palm Beach diocese over defamation. Father John Gallagher, a Tyrone native, claimed the Florida diocese tried to cover-up a pedophile priest(link is external) in the diocese. Gallagher exposed him and was shunned and defamed as a result. In January 2015, Gallagher (49), who has served in Florida since 2000, helped to report criminal misconduct by Fr. Jose Palimattom, a priest of the Franciscan Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India, who was serving a two-year residency at Holy Name of Jesus Parish, in West Palm Beach.” By Staff at Irish Central

No justice for a life destroyed
“Victims of historic abuse(link is external) in state care are fighting back, demanding justice – in cash and apologies – to help rebuild broken lives. But some are going further. In the second part of ODT Insight’s special investigation, Chris Morris tells Darryl Smith’s story.” By Chris Morris, Otago Daily Times